EXCLUSIVE: MOORE'S NEW PROJECT 'GOES WAY BEYOND' 'F9/11' ON WHAT'S HAPPENED TO THE COUNTRY

By Pete Hammond

MICHAEL MOORE STEALS CANNES SPOTLIGHT AGAIN By Pete Hammond 5-16-08 Michael Moore was feeling much relief as he faced a room of journalists gathered at Cannes� famous Carlton Hotel to hear about the just-announced �sequel� to his documentary, �Fahrenheit 9/11.�

He�s been here many times before, including for �Sicko� last year, and he actually won the festival�s top prize, the Palme d�Or , for �Fahrenheit� and a special jury honor for �Bowling For Columbine.� When we suggested this might be his good luck town (the French like him almost as much as they idolize Jerry Lewis), he said he loves Cannes but was jubilant not to have to put on a tux (attire at festival shows is strictly black-tie) and take a walk up the Palais steps.

�I�m happy to be here WITHOUT a movie this time,� he said. �There�s no pressure.�

He blew briefly into town to meet with buyers about the new project, a co-venture between Overture Films and Paramount Vantage, and he�s trying to downplay early word that it was a sequel. He says the film is really about what�s happened inside the U.S. while the Bush administration has been �asleep at the wheel� while the government has been busy waging war in Iraq. It sounds like vintage Moore and promises more of the kind of thing he delivered in �Roger and Me� as he is sure to go after some corporations he believes have had a free ride in the last eight years. Obviously he doesn�t want to give too much away at this point as he is just getting into production and knows these companies will be warning employees to stay away from him.

Chris McGurk, chair of Overture Films who worked with Moore on his Oscar-winning �Columbine� when he was running MGM/UA, is thrilled to be back in business with the gadfly on this movie, which he says is going to spotlight some of the potentially irreversible actions of the past decade. Although it�s early to say whether it�s possible, the key players here agree it would be nice to return to Cannes with the finished film next spring.

But does he think the results of the November election have an effect on box office?

�Absolutely not. This isn�t about Republicans or Democrats,� McGurk said. �It goes way beyond that�